Apostasy
Cell 666

June 2004
Released: 2004, Black Mark
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Lord of the Wasteland

When I first popped in Apostasy’s debut, CELL 666, I thought I was listening to a Dimmu Borgir CD! All the elements of symphonic black metal are there, including (this will send the black metal elite scurrying) heavy use of keyboards and clean production. The band members are all young (two are still teenagers) but play their instruments well and are able to write some good riffs that aren’t far off from Swedish melodic death. Vocals are done in a shrieking rasp by Fredric Edin, that closely parallels the mighty Shagrath himself.



“Crowned in Thorns” and “Icon” are heavy with keyboards and some lightning fast drumming from Hakan Bjorklund. Fredric Edin channels the black metal gods in his vocal style here, too. The title track is more like the blackened thrash sounds of The Crown with a fat bass overtop of some excellent double bass drumming. Dennis Bobzien’s keyboards tinkle their way through this track and even leaves room for a nifty solo. “7th Throne” has an amazing riff that powers through the verses and builds to an exciting solo making it the standout track on the album. The instrumental “Metempsychosis” closes the record with haunting, ethereal keyboards



I’ll admit CELL 666 was a pleasant surprise for me. Given that this is Apostasy’s debut album, they show great promise and I’m eager to see where they take their sound on album number two. Any fan of melodic death or symphonic black metal will be happy they checked this CD out.



KILLER KUTS: “Crowned in Thorns,” “Cell 666,” “7th Throne”